Thill-support



(No Model.)

W. H. GLENDENNING. THILL SUBPORT. No. 414,520. Patented Nov. 5, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

VILLIAM H. GLENDENNING, OF IRONTON, OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,520, dated November5, 1889;

Application filed May 17, 1889.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. GLENDEN- NTNG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Ironton, in the county of Lawrence and State ofOhio, have invented a new and useful 'Phill-Support, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to thill-supports of that class in which aspring-arm is attached tothe front axle and engages with asuitablyshaped headed plate carried by the thill, the object being toaccomplish the supporting of the shafts when desired, all as will bereadily understood from the following specification.

Heretofore thill-supports have been constructed with two headedspring-arms, one carried by the thills and the other by the axle; buttheir means of connection to their supporting parts were inconvenientand expensive, and the arms themselves stood in positions where theywere not only dangerous to the user, but where they were liable to catchthe tail of the horse or the lines orv other free and swinging parts.

The object of the present invention is to overcome thepreviously-existing objections and at the same time to construct adevice which shall be inexpensive in manufacture and neat andserviceable in use; This obj ect I accomplish by means of the mechanismillustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the followingspecification.

In the said drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the front axle ofa vehicle with its thills down, my support being shown as appliedthereto. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same, the thillsbeing shown in their raised position. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspectiveview of the headed plate, and Fig. 4 is a detail View of the'clip-plate.Fig. 5 is a detail view representing a modification.

The same letters of reference are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the drawings and specification.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A

represents the front axle, upon which is mounted a clip C, having theusual forwardlyprojecting ears E, between which the rear ends of thethills T are pivoted by bolts o in the well-known manner. The clip-plateP below the axle in the present instance is continued upwardly, as atP', from its rear end,

Serial No. 311,131- (No model.)

and its extremity is provided with a head D, for a purpose to behereinafter set forth. If desired, the plate P Inay be separate andindependent of the clip-plate P, and may be bent at its lower end so asto pass over said clip-plate, being retained in position by the nuts Non -the lower ends of the clip C; but I prefer to construct these twoplates P and P as above described for obvious saving of expense in theirmanufacture and time in their application to the vehicle.

The letter H represents a plate secured to the upper face of each of thethills below the heads of the bolts 0,which pass therethrough, andwhich,y by the nuts N', hold said thills and thill-irons together, allas seen in Fig. 2. The bodies of said bolts O pass through longitudi#nal slots h in the body of the plate H, whereby the latter may beadjust-ed longitudinally of the thills by loosening said nuts N. Theplate H is provided at the center of its upper face with a head S,having its front and rear faces cut away, as at s, and within thesecutaway portions or one of them the head D on the spring-plate P engageswhen the device is in operative position, as shown in Fig. 2. The saidhead D is preferably double-sided, as shown in Fig. et, whereby when oneside has become worn it may be reversed to present the other side,though it will be obvious that it may be one-sided, as shown in Fig. 2,and will serveall the purposes desired. In the form illustrated in Fig.4f, the point of the head D, after it has come into engagement with thehead S, rests against the inner face of the bolt-head on that side ofsaid head S, whereby a tirm and strong connection is maintained betweenthe part-s of the device.

The operation is obvious. When it is desired to support the thills,either while the vehicle is in the stable or while the horse is beingattached thereto, the thills are raised to their utmost extent and thetwo heads D and S are brought into contact. The beveled faces thereofengage each other, and the spring-arm P is deflected either to the frontor to the rear and the parts automatically engage. To detach them, allthat is necessary is to exert force suicient to do so.

It will be obvious to a skilled mechanic that this device is applicableto any vehicle now upon the market and whose parts are of IOO IOv

the ordinary construction; also, that no additional plates or bolts. arerequired to secure. it in place.

The plate P is continued downwardly and forms the clip-plate P below theaxle, and the headed plate H is firmly and adj ustably secured beneaththe heads of the nally adj ustable'upon the thills is to enable it to beset when its beveled faces or those on the head D become Worn, or whenthe springarln P grows weak from constant use and is normally deflectedfrom its proper position. If desired, however, the slots h in the plateH maybe omitted and the same provided merely with holes to receive thebolts O; but I prefer the use of the slot-s for the purpose'set forth.The curved arm P stands at the rear of the axle and completely out ofthe way. The user is safe from becoming impaled thereon in case of arunaway or other accident, and from the fact that it curves forwardlyinstead of reary wardly, as heretofore, and the reins are not likely tobecome engaged therewith to the annoyance of the driver.

I claim as the salient points of my invention- The clip-plate P, securedto the axle and continued upwardly along the rear side and terminatingabove the top of the axle to form thecurved spring-plate P', having thehead D, combined with the plate H, having longitudinal slots b at eachend and secured adjustably to the thill by bolts, and the rigid of thespring-plate directly above the top of.

the axle, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing V'as 'my own I have heretoaffixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

W; H. GLENDENNING. Witnesses:-

C. O.'WQLFE, y GEO: W. KEYL.

